The Man in the Fog

Summary:
Bella is a commoner who becomes Prince Edward’s lover. She loses him when she is forcefully thrown into another dimension. Finally, she finds him again but he goes with the fog. OOC. Canon parings.
In case I haven't made myself clear, the banner is by annamorphos. She's awesome!

Notes:
The idea of the story came up to me when I saw the fog covering our way as we go to the strawberry festival. At first, I wondered what if I could only see my ideal man in the fog. Hence, this story was born.

2. Chapter 1: A day in the Life of Bella Swan

Driving my truck to school, I smiled as I enjoyed the final moments of peace where I could just be Bella. I felt safe here. Its walls gave me protection from the outside world. While inside, I felt like nothing could touch me. There would be no one to judge me and no one to expect anything from me. The truck’s deliberate slowness allowed me time for myself. Taking a deep breath, I held on to the last vestiges of my identity.

I approached Forks High School—the center of my universe. It was a small school; the crumbling edifice signaling its age and neglect. Since the school year would start today, I arrived early so that I had a few more minutes before the entire student body bombarded my peace and solitude. I looked in the mirror and put on the final touch-ups before presenting myself in the world.

“Teeth, check. Make-up, check—not too cakey, just smooth enough to blend in. Blouse…no wrinkles, check,” I said to myself as I checked my appearance for the last time.

Once people began to trickle in, I exited my vehicle and flashed my patented winning smile to anyone heading my way as I went over to my two best girl friends. They were sitting and waiting for me in Alice’s car. I grimaced as I remembered not going with them on the cruise they went on two weeks ago. I opened the door and slid in the passenger’s seat.

“Bella!” Alice said, hugging me. “It’s nice to see you!”

“Nice to see you too,” I said chuckling. “Come on, we only haven’t seen each other for two weeks.”

“We would have seen each other last week if you joined us for the trip,” Rose pointed out.

“Well, I got a little busy,” I said trying to come up with a plausible excuse.

“Why were you busy? Were you scrubbing the floors of Newton’s Outfitters?” Alice asked.

“Among other things,” I said. “I was having a blast at my summer job. I think that they were ready to hire me full time by the end of summer.”

“Even if you decided to take the summer job, you should have ended that sooner. Rose and I really had a great time,” Alice said. She handed me a ton of pictures where both she and Rose were on the beach wearing bikinis and sipping lemonade as they lie on chaises.

“These are souvenirs,” Rose said as she gave me some necklaces made of sea shells. “We made them ourselves. We were supposed to buy you memorabilia but decided against it. We know that you hate it when people spend money on you. Seriously, you should’ve swallowed your aversion to us treating you and came with us.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m fine,” I said. “Like I said, I don’t want to be a burden.”

Rosalie chuckled. “You’re not a burden to us, Bella. We are happy to spend money on you…even though you are allergic to spending.”

“Don’t remind me,” I said and then pointed to Alice. “This girl right here spends too much money on my wardrobe as it is.”

“But you don’t buy a lot of clothes,” Alice said with a big smile on her face. “As I said, I want to be a fashion designer so by allowing me to spend money on clothes for you; you are investing in my future.”

I just shook my head at her reasoning. Should she be spending her money buying me new clothes, when she could design her own and build them from scratch? I do not think so. I let her get away with it, since she would continue to fill my wardrobe without my permission; it was futile to ask her to stop. The closet fiasco of junior high was a testament to that. It was when Alice decided that she could no longer take my fashion sense that she started sneaking into my house, replacing my wardrobe with the ones she bought. Not only that, but she took my actual clothes and burned them. I did not speak to her for a week or two after that happened. The only time we would speak to one another was when Rosalie would intervene. She mediated with Alice and me until we finally reached a compromise. I let her pick my clothes for school days and whenever I go out with them. However, she could only choose a piece of clothing to get rid of every month. I knew that Alice got more of the bargain but considering the drastic measures she would take, I would have to agree with the compromise.

“Bella, what are you doing this Friday?” Alice asked.

“I have to cook dinner; my parents are coming home late,” I answered.

“I knew you were gonna say that.” Alice shook her head. “That is why I asked your parents first, before you. You are coming straight to our house on Friday for a sleepover after school.”

“Well, let me pack my things first,” I said.

“Nonsense! I went over to your house while you were out yesterday. I asked your parents and actually packed your bags for you. All you have to do is to show up,” Alice explained.

I shook my head in disbelief. It was unlike my friends to force me into a sleepover.

“Alice may be taking extreme actions, but I agree with her reasoning,” Rose said. “Seriously, you should have fun and we’re not taking no for an answer. We wouldn’t want you to miss out on our girl time, especially since you ditched us last time.”

Knowing my defeat, I agreed and did not make a big deal about it. I realized that I would enjoy myself anyway.

“Girls, I’m so touched!” I said; mocking them as I wiped away my imaginary tears.

“Bella, quit being a drama queen,” Rosalie said as she looked at me with concern.

“You should know by now why we would take extreme measures just to keep you relaxed,” she reasoned.

I zoned out for a moment and let my mind wonder at what could happen on Friday. There would definitely be movie-watching and story-telling, two of my favorite sleepover activities. However, I dreaded the makeover activity on the agenda since I would be a life-size Barbie for Alice and Rose. Those two seemed to enjoy my pain from being their personal makeup and hair product tester. Everytime we had a sleepover, those two could not seem to keep their magic touch off me. We had been having our sleepovers every other month since elementary; my makeover had been in the sleepover agenda since junior high.

When we talked about their cruise, I felt envy seeping in my soul as Alice and Rose described the pristine waters of South America. I made up my mind not to let it get to me since I was the one who decided that I could not afford it.

“So, what else were you doing besides fixing the shelves at Newton’s Outfitters?” Rose asked.

“Cleaning and keeping everything in order at the house,” I said.

“If that’s the case, we should’ve made you be our maid,” Alice joked. “At least you could’ve paid your way through the cruise without feeling the guilt of being a ‘freeloader.’”

“Seriously, Bella, you wouldn’t be a freeloader. We were actually doing research on the property so our parents gladly spent the money on the trip. Our fathers told us that we should learn how to invest. According to them, we should test the investment and see if we liked it,” Rose explained. “Since we did enjoy our vacation, I have to admit that the cruise is investment-worthy.”

“I completely agree with Rose. I mean, we graduated from buying apartments almost everywhere in the country. We had been doing those since we were in middle school,” Alice added. “We enjoyed the cruise so much that we decided to buy the cruise ship and be partners with it. That way, we could drag you anytime we want to go on a cruise.”

I just shook my head, realizing that my best friends were moguls in the making. Of course, I thought to myself. Carlisle and Jasper Sr. had been training their children to be investors and entrepreneurs. While they both considered me a daughter to them and had received instructions on wealth building, I had yet to amass a lot of money like those two; both of them were almost as wealthy as Warren Buffet, literally.

“So, what’s your first class?” I asked.

“Spanish,” Alice said.

“Me, too,” Rosalie agreed.

“What’s yours, Bella?” Alice asked.

“English…with Ms. Lightfire,” I said.

Both of them cringed at the thought; they knew how much I detested Lightfire and her “teaching” methods.

“Not that bad? Who teaches English by saying that Einstein was just a fictional character?”

“Do your best and don’t let it get to you,” Alice encouraged. “If you have Emmett with you, think of all the things you could do to keep yourself from getting bored.”

I chuckled. Emmett was the joker in our group. He would find something for you to laugh at within minutes of sitting with him. He would be a welcome distraction to my miserable period. We did not notice how much time had passed, but we realized that we would be late for class when we heard the warning bell.

“Thanks,” I said. “So, are you guys going now?”

Both Alice and Rose looked at the clock and nodded their heads.

“See you at lunch.” I waved goodbye to my girls before separating from them.

Alice and Rosalie headed to Building A for Spanish while I went to Building B for English. I saw Emmett seating next to my favorite spot at the back of the class.

“Hey, Bells!” Emmett said as he picked me up in a bear hug making me squeal. “I heard you, Alice, and my Rosie are having a sleepover.”

“More like an ‘ambush sleepover,’” I corrected.

“Yeah, I heard Alice working with Jasper to figure out your possible excuses,” Emmett confirmed. “It was all her idea. She said that you never get to have fun so we would have to force you whether you liked it or not. We all agreed, so we decided to help.”

I was horrified at the idea. How could my best friends think that I would ditch them on our regular sleepovers? That had been one of the most constant parts of my life. I actually enjoyed them even though I hated the makeovers.

“We don’t mean any harm,” Emmett defended their actions.

“After all, you’re like a sister to me and we need to force you to have fun or you’re gonna go cuckoo,” he continued as he twirled his finger next to his head.

I smiled at Emmett. He certainly knew how to keep the situation light-hearted.

Our English teacher, Ms. Lightfire, came in, smiling wide. I sighed and I grabbed a piece of paper and started to doodle, knowing that there would be nothing to learn at this class because of her incompetence. I crumpled it into a ball as she started discussing the similarities and differences between Charlotte Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. Our assignment was to compare them. I swore that if Bronte sisters heard Lightfire, both Emily and Charlotte Bronte would get up from the grave, drag her by the ear and teach her to get her authors right. When the class was over, I looked over at Emmett, who seemed to be hiding his laughter.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“Nothing. I always see a permanent scowl on your face every time we’re in English,” Emmett said chuckling.

“Well, I wouldn’t have a permanent scowl on my face if Lightfire got her facts straight,” I pointed out, obvious frustration in my voice.

I headed to the cafeteria where I would meet Alice and Rosalie for lunch. We all headed to the line together; Alice ordered her usual salad with vinaigrette dressing while Rose got her pizza and Buffalo wings. I chose mashed potatoes and fried chicken. We took our usual spot, in the middle table at the back of the cafeteria, while we waited for Jasper and Emmett.

“Rosalie Hale, I’m amazed at how you maintain your figure ordering fattening foods, especially since you ordered them everyday last school year,” Alice said as she grabbed a forkful of her lunch. “I think I gained weight just watching you eat.”

“I guess that’s one of the plus sides of being 5’11’’,” Rose answered, smiling at her own joke before realizing how insensitive her answer was. She composed herself and did some damage control. “Seriously, how can’t I? I’m on the swim team, the basketball team, the track team and the cheerleading squad. You only do three things for your extra-curricular activities: shopping, shopping, and shopping.”

“You forgot to mention that I am the fashion editor of the school paper,” Alice added with a smug smile on her face, eating the salad on her fork.

“The point is, you need to be more physically active if you don’t want to gain weight. Take Bella for example,” Rose lectured, pointing at me. “On second thought, don’t do things out of obligation, or you’ll end up like that ice queen sitting right next to you.”

Both of them looked at me. “Poor Mike Newton; he’s rejected without any consideration,” Alice said.

“Better add Tyler Crowley to the list,” Rosalie added.

“Well, I’d rather stop talking to them and leading them on than have them follow me like a sick puppy trying to convince me to reconsider my rejection,” I defended myself.

Emmett joined us at our table and sat next to Rose. “So, what have we missed?”

“That Bella is the ice queen from hell,” Alice said.

“That the guys at Forks High seem to hold no interest for our dear Bella,” Rosalie explained. She looked at me and then shook her head before sighing. “She’s hopeless.”

“Maybe we should set her up on a blind date,” Jasper jumped in when he approached our table. He was still smiling when he took the empty spot next to Alice.

“Absolutely not,” I said as I pointed my fork filled with mashed potato to Jasper. “No more match making, Jazz. I won’t humiliate myself with such activities as finding myself a date.”

“Relax, Bella. I was just kidding.” Jasper held both his hands high to show that he surrendered. “Lighten up.”

We ate and talked to one another; my earlier outburst forgotten. I enjoyed eating with my friends since they knew to let go of topics I would rather avoid and to keep everything light-hearted. They were almost perfect. Almost.

I headed to my last class of the day, Physical Education: where we would be playing badminton. Receiving my racket, I held it. I was thankful that I was not as clumsy as I used to be since I managed to hit the shuttlecock almost everytime my opponents threw it at me. On the other hand, my partner, Mike Newton, did not know how to play the game at all. He sent the shuttlecock backwards making me work hard for it. He was only good at hitting it and making it go anywhere except across the net.

“That was a good workout,” Mike beamed.

“You think so?” I asked, trying my best to be civil. It was one of the worst badminton games I had ever played.

“We’ll see,” I replied, not wanting to promise anything. In truth, I did not want to be his badminton partner again since he was horrible.

“So, Bella, would you like to go to the movies sometime?” Mike asked as we headed toward the locker rooms.

“I told you, Mike. I am not interested,” I said. I shook my head at the absolute cluelessness of my badminton partner.

“What about lunch?” he asked again.

I ignored him as I shook my head and walked away. I reached the girls’ locker room and changed into my Alice-approved outfit of the day. As I held up my outfit, I found myself growling at the piece of fabric that showed too much skin for my taste. When I was done changing, I picked up my bag and headed to the parking lot where I found Tyler Crowley standing close to my car.

“Let me help you with that,” he offered as he pointed at my bag.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” I answered. “I think I can manage.”

Tyler looked at me hesitantly, his nervousness palpable as beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

“So, I was wondering if we can go out sometime,” he said, trying to ask me out on a date for the third time this week.

“I’ll think about it,” I said.

“Take as long as you need,” Tyler stated with sadness in his eyes. He stared at me, shook his head, and left.

I climbed into my truck and started my engine. Then, I turned on the radio and left the parking lot as I reflected on my empty existence. Deep down, I knew that I was one of the luckiest people in the world. After all, I had friends who loved me, parents who cared for me and a truck to drive. Yet there was something missing but I could not put a finger on it. I contemplated on this so I absent-mindedly drove myself home and miraculously made it in one piece.

“So Bella, I heard from Alice that you are going to her house for a sleepover,” my mother encouraged. She grabbed a forkful of lasagna as she waited for me to answer.

“That’s what she said,” I told her before chewing on a bite myself. “You know that I love Alice, right? I just hate the makeover idea. Imagine spending the whole night being pricked, plucked, and prodded.”

Both my parents laughed.

“Do me a favor,” my mother said as she laughed before pointing the fork at me. “Please tell Alice to give me a picture of your makeovers. I really like how she does your hair and clothes. That girl has talent.”

I grimaced at her statement. Knowing my mother, she spoke before thinking. When she finally realized what she has said, she apologized about her makeover comment.

“Dad, how’s work?” I asked, trying to change the topic.

“Pretty good,” he answered.

I nodded in understanding. The small town of Forks, Washington was one of the most crimeless towns in the country. Its biggest offenders: teenagers who decided to get “creative.” They were your typical vandals—the ones who toilet paper trees and write graffiti on the walls.

“So, anything exciting about work, dear?” my mother prodded.

“Nothing really…unless you consider sending some of our police officers to L.A. for eight weeks to train them exciting,” he replied. He smiled at the thought before looking down, sighing his sigh of defeat.

“I didn’t know about that,” my mother stated. “Why don’t you go? It might be a good experience.”

“It would be nice, but Forks needs a chief of police,” Dad pointed out.

My father was very adamant at the subject. He did not think anybody could do a better job than he would.

“True, but can’t you leave for those eight weeks? Let your potential successor get a taste of what it’s like to be a chief of police,” Mom suggested.

“Since when have you been so encouraging about this?” Dad asked.

“Since I realize that this is a good opportunity for you to grow as a police officer. Don’t worry about Bella and me for eight weeks,” Mom said.

“Mom’s right, Dad. I am the one taking care of both of you anyway,” I added with a smile, thinking about my normal routine: cooking, cleaning and doing the laundry. “Don’t worry, the house will survive.”

“Thanks. So, I guess I should go then,” he acquiesced pretty quickly. He smiled; his face instantly lit up at the mention of going to Los Angeles.

We continued eating dinner while discussing the details of the training. It turned out that it was an exchange program between the Los Angeles and Forks police. He explained that the “trainees” would be briefed with the LAPD (he said it stands for Los Angeles Police Department) procedure for one week. Then they would spend seven weeks trying to work with the L.A. police.

“I know,” Dad said. “It’s just to give us an actual taste of what it was like to be a cop from a big city.”

Once the dinner was over, mom helped me clean up. She wiped the table while I loaded the dishwasher. Afterwards, we settled on the couch to watch some television. I stayed for thirty minutes before heading upstairs to study.

I truly did not need to study as hard as I did. I usually got good grades and I had one of the highest GPA’s in Forks High School. Still, I studied as hard as I could in order to maintain my GPA. I wanted to meet the adults’ expectation of me.

I felt tired after two hours of burying my nose in my books. I put my things inside my school bag and got ready for bed. Once I was in my bed, I pulled the blanket up to my shoulder and said my nightly prayers. Soon, I found myself dreaming of my lover—the one I had never met.

I was in the forest holding a fishing rod when I reached the beautiful waterfall. The sun was casting an ethereal glow at the panorama in front of me. There were no trees surrounding the waterfall. There was only the liveliest of grass surrounding it. On the border between the forest and this clear spot were different kinds of plants blossoming with flowers. Some were tall, others were short. Some had the brightest colors while there were those with plain white. The flowers were like fences separating this part of the forest from the rest of civilization. It felt like I discovered a forgotten paradise.

I placed the hook at the front end of the string of my makeshift fishing rod before adding the bait. Once it was ready, I cast it into the water. I waited patiently and quietly as I enjoyed the beauty of the scenery in front of me.

The waterfall looked like it was part of the Garden of Eden. It was clear and reflected the sunlight, producing rainbows. The pool at the bottom of the waterfall looked like a crystal; it was so clear that I saw hundreds of fish swimming. Lying on the verdant grass, I took in the magnificence of the landscape around the waterfall. The view was divine. Everywhere I looked, there were small plants with green leaves and budding flowers. It might be early spring; there were flower buds waiting to bloom everywhere.

Closing my eyes, I got some rest as I waited for a fish or two to take the bait. Suddenly, it felt like someone was watching me. Looking around, I did not see anything, so I went back to rest when I heard a twig snap. I turned to the direction of the sound and was shocked to find a huge brown bear. I was frozen in place.

The bear came towards me as I moved away from it. I realized that there was no use resisting since it would only take several strides for the bear to grab hold of me. I decided I would not give up without a fight, even though it was hopeless. Taking a deep breath, I gathered as much air as I could before letting out the most powerful scream I could muster.

Seeing me as its prey, the bear lunged at me. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see my end. I knew that I was about to die but deep within my heart; I hoped that someone would save me.

Out of nowhere, there was a slashing sound of an arrow. Suddenly, the bear fell backwards. I did not know if the bear was dead, but I knew that I was very lucky to be breathing. Still shaken from what happened, I did not dare to move. Finally, a man approached me. I could not see his face at all but I knew it was my prince, saving me from the bear.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “You are safe now.”

Trembling from fear, I hugged him in relief. He patted my back as he soothed me with his velvet voice.